HB 779

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarship
3	Endowment; creating s. 215.5605, F.S.; creating the
4	endowment within the State Board of Administration for the
5	purpose of funding scholarships for economically
6	disadvantaged youth; providing for moneys from the tax on
7	slot machines to be transferred from the Educational
8	Enhancement Trust Fund to the endowment as provided in the
9	General Appropriations Act; providing definitions;
10	requiring the board to invest funds of the endowment and
11	provide reports to the Legislature; providing for the
12	transfer of earnings from the endowment to the Educational
13	Enhancement Trust Fund; requiring the Department of
14	Education to be accountable for funds appropriated to the
15	department; providing requirements for costs and fees;
16	providing requirements for the expenditure and use of
17	distributions from the endowment; providing for revenues
18	of the endowment to be appropriated to the direct-support
19	organization of the Florida Prepaid College Board;
20	providing for the reversion of unencumbered balances of
21	appropriations and undisbursed balances of the endowment's
22	principal; providing an effective date.
23
24	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26
27	Section 1.  Section 215.5605, Florida Statutes, is created
28	to read:
29	215.5605  Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarship Endowment.--
30	(1)  FLORIDA PREPAID TUITION SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT;
31	CREATION; PRINCIPAL.--
32	(a)  There is created the Florida Prepaid Tuition
33	Scholarship Endowment, to be administered by the State Board of
34	Administration. The purpose of the endowment is to provide a
35	perpetual source of enhanced funding for the Florida Prepaid
36	Tuition Scholarship Program to provide prepaid postsecondary
37	tuition scholarships for economically disadvantaged youth. The
38	endowment is exempt from the service charges imposed by s.
39	215.20.
40	(b)  The endowment shall receive moneys from the tax on
41	slot machine revenues as defined in s. 551.106. Moneys to be
42	transferred from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund to the
43	Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarship Endowment shall be in the
44	amount provided by the Legislature in the General Appropriations
45	Act to the Department of Education. The department shall
46	transfer the appropriated funds to the endowment at the State
47	Board of Administration.
48	(c)  The principal in the endowment shall be reserved and
49	accounted for within the endowment and the earnings shall be
50	used, as appropriated by the Legislature, for the funding of
51	Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarships for economically
52	disadvantaged youth as provided in s. 1009.984.
53	(2)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
54	(a)  "Board" means the State Board of Administration
55	established by s. 16, Art. IX of the State Constitution of 1885
56	and incorporated into s. 9(c), Art. XII of the State
57	Constitution of 1968.
58	(b)  "Endowment" means the Florida Prepaid Tuition
59	Scholarship Endowment.
60	(c)  "Earnings" means all income generated by investments.
61	(d)  "Department" means the Department of Education.
62	(3)  ADMINISTRATION.--
63	(a)  The board may invest and reinvest funds of the
64	endowment in accordance with s. 215.47 and consistent with a
65	trust agreement as provided in s. 215.44.
66	(b)  In accordance with s. 215.44, the board shall include
67	separate sections concerning the financial status of the
68	endowment in its annual investment report to the Legislature.
69	(c)  The board shall report to the Legislature by February
70	1 each year the estimated amount of earnings in the endowment as
71	of June 30 of that year. The Legislature may or may not
72	appropriate the available earnings in any fiscal year for
73	Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarships as provided in s. 1009.984.
74	The board shall transfer earnings to the Educational Enhancement
75	Trust Fund in the amount appropriated by the Legislature.
76	(d)  Accountability for funds from the endowment which have
77	been appropriated to the Department of Education and distributed
78	by the board shall reside with the department. The board is not
79	responsible or accountable for the proper expenditure of funds
80	from the endowment after distribution to the department.
81	(e)  Costs and fees of the board for investment services
82	shall be deducted from the earnings accruing to the endowment.
83	Fees for investment services may not be greater than the fees
84	charged to the Florida Retirement System.
85	(4)  AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS; USES.--
86	(a)  Earnings in the Florida Prepaid Tuition Endowment Fund
87	shall be transferred by the board to the Educational Enhancement
88	Trust Fund in the amount appropriated from the Educational
89	Enhancement Trust Fund for Florida Prepaid Tuition Scholarships,
90	as provided in s. 1009.984, by the Legislature.
91	(b)  In order to ensure that the expenditure of funds
92	earned from the Florida Prepaid Tuition Endowment Fund will be
93	used only for the purposes intended by the Legislature, the
94	Legislature shall establish line-item categories that designate
95	the use of the appropriated funds in the General Appropriations
96	Act.
97	(c)  Subject to legislative appropriations, the Florida
98	Prepaid College Board shall use distributions from the endowment
99	to provide prepaid postsecondary tuition scholarships to
100	economically disadvantaged youth pursuant to s. 1009.984.
101	(d)  Appropriations of endowment investment revenues by the
102	Legislature to the department shall be deposited into the
103	account of the direct-support organization of the Florida
104	Prepaid College Board established pursuant s. 1009.983.
105	(e)  Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and pursuant to s. 216.351,
106	all unencumbered balances of appropriations to the department as
107	of June 30 or undisbursed balances as of September 30 shall
108	revert to the endowment's principal at the board.
109	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.